This episode looks at the classic cold-war computer hacker film WarGames, and the new interactive reboot based on the property. We also shine some light on the other black superhero, DC’s Black Lightning, found on Netflix. Lastly, Chad latches onto the inexplicable Venom teaser trailer and tries to make some Spidey sense of it.

Show Notes:00:56 – We start with WarGames.04:43 – A description of the reboot, and a look at the original movie.06:53 – Chad starts in with Short Circuit.08:22 – Dabney Coleman is a dick.10:36 – Again with Short Circuit?24:56 – Start of Black Lightning discussion.29:03 – The unbearable deadness of James Remar.37:31 – Chad breaks down the Venom teaser trailer.

We focus our tri-corders on USS Callister, an episode of the great Netflix anthology SF series Black Mirror that deftly parodies Star Trek while presenting the usual futuretech dystopia that is the hallmark of the series. We also hold up DTube, a video sharing site that is being hailed as a YouTube killer, as proof that there is no redeeming features of mankind whatsoever. Enjoy!

Show Notes:
00:42 – We start off with our analysis of USS Callister.
01:39 – A detour into The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller.
18:25 – Chad questions what’s wrong with baby-killing.
27:06 – We start talking about the dumpster fire that is DTube.
31:23 – Some choice morons on the DTube short bus.
34:46 – The mechanics of DTube.
42:21 – How to win friends and influence idiots.
44:31 -Deutsche Tube

Thanks for listening!

USS Callister Trailer – https://youtu.be/qgTtyfgzGc0
The Nerdstalking DTube channel – https://d.tube/#!/c/nerdstalking
Jack and Jill trailer- https://youtu.be/oJVv3PBoPMc
I realize this presentation is an assault on the visual senses, but this is the full version of the TV play of Bertolt Brecht’s Baal, by David Bowie. My recommendation to you is to zoom in to the window on the bottom left that contains the video, so you don’t see any of the effects that are designed to throw off the content ID algorithyms of Google. As far as I can see, this is the only post of the TV show in its entirety. And the immense creative power of Bowie is not diminished by reducing the image. No Earthly confinement could ever do that – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_l6jBYsQ60

Bill and Chad can’t conceal that they have a bad feeling about Solo following the first trailers for the next Star Wars story, then Chad hooks us up with a breakdown of the much-anticipated character Cable, soon to light up screens in the upcoming Deadpool 2. Tune in, turn on and drop everything and listen!

Show Notes:00:08 – Premiering the new Nerdstalking theme!02:06 – The start of our Solo talk.19:38 – We talk about the hilarious Deadpool 2 trailers.22:25 – The start of our discussion of Cable. Who is this Cable guy?32:30 – The powers of Cable.37:12 – How will Cable fit into Deadpool 2?40:11 – Demollition Man: A Retrospective.

Chad hypothesizes the Justice League film in song! We’ve seen it now and his prophetic words are eerily Nostradamus-like. Look for his upcoming song prophesying the next hundred-years of Popes! “…And in the year 2024 Donald Trump Junior will contribute greatly to the Vatican’s ivory collection and will be appointed Pope Trump!”

At the expense of causing fur to fly, Bill and Chad smell something pretty bad in the kitty litter as they do an extensive break-down of the 2018 Black Panther movie from Marvel. Try not to get scratched as you listen! As usual, we examine lots of details of the movie to cover all the bases with our assessment of it, so THERE BE SPOILERS!

Chad and Bill examine the trailer for Marvel’s Black Panther, and find it wanting. Bill also ponders the Amazonian (or not) nature of Wonder Woman Gal Gadot, we dwell on next year’s Captain Marvel, and other pressing topics.

Show Notes:

00:00 – Intro, and we go right into our breakdown of the Black Panther trailer.

15:25 – The beginning of our thoughts on leaked set pictures of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, as well as Chad sets up some comic book context for the character.

16:02 – Is Gal Gadot tall enough to be Wonder Woman?

23:40 – Chad gives a run-down on Fox’s post-apocolyptic sit-com The Last Man on Earth.

26:10 – More Captain Marvel talk.

30:30 – We ponder what terrible thing Mark Hamill must have done to Rian Johnson to make the director force him to milk a sea cow in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

33:46 – What in the Hell is cryptocurrency?

36:55 – After what Donald Trump would no doubt describe as a “fake sign-off”, we really do sign off.

Say what you might about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, (and Nerdstalking does say, a lot, in our review of it here: http://bit.ly/2BefOJK), but at least it has the singularly strangest scene of any big-budget movie of at least the last ten years, if not further back. Heroine Rey has tracked down reclusive Jedi Luke Skywalker, who summarily refuses to train her in her Force powers. After following Skywalker around his desolate island to determine what is keeping him so busy that he can’t help her out, she make a harrowing discovery of just what a fallen Jedi does to get some protein in his diet.

Bill and Chad serve up roasted Porgs and fresh lounging sea creature milk with their in-depth breakdown of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Does Episode VIII add momentum to the sequel trilogy and tee fans up for Ep. IX? Listen and find out!

We start out, though, giving our thoughts on the Netflix original TV series The Punisher. Frank Castle in the hizz-ouse!

I guess they’ve been making these little independent films about a group of friends that always gather together when a crisis affects them. There’s a rich guy, this old-timer who’s from the 50’s or something, one guy who keeps losing his temper, a woman with a dark background she never talks about, the pretty boy, and a guy who’s a straight-arrow. You know, an ensemble piece. So the trailer for their latest movie was just released, so I’ll post it here for anyone who wants to take their date to a romcom or something.

In episode 25 of our podcast, Chad described his discovery of the amazing works of George Pal, who made such SF masterworks as When Worlds Collide and War of the Worlds, to name just a couple. Beyond film epics, Chad also mentioned that he started out as an accomplished animator, although we couldn’t remember at the time what his stop-motion animation technique was named. Well, they were called Puppetoons, and here is a great example of his work. It’s a 1948 theatrical ad for Mounds chocolate bars:

Sure, DC movies have had some hard knocks over recent years, but at least they warned us that Kevin Spacey is, in fact, a real diabolical menace! The two Nerdstalking evil geniuseses Bill and Chad take a journey into Zack Snyder/Joss Whedon’s darkened treatise on super friendship, Justice League, and lo and behold they find that there’s light at the end of the DC tunnel after all! Plus some talk on the first series of TV’s Star Trek: Discovery, and Chad relates his wondrous discovery of the films of SF movie extravaganza pioneer George Pal.